ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier 2023 Points Table: Updated standings after Namibia vs Tanzania, Match 15
Namibia took on Tanzania in the 15th match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier 2023 on Tuesday, November 28, at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek. Namibia easily defeated Tanzania by 58 runs in this game.
With a win here, Namibia have qualified for the T20 World Cup to be played in the West Indies and the USA next year. They are the only undefeated team in the tournament and are in first position with a Net Run Rate of +2.643.
Uganda are in second place with three wins in four matches and a Net Run Rate of +0.503. Kenya have also won three out of four games and have a Net Run Rate of +0.481, sitting in third place in the points table currently. Zimbabwe have won and lost two matches each and are in fourth position with a Net Run Rate of +2.276.
Nigeria, with one win in four games and a Net Run Rate of -0.195, have occupied the fifth position in the points tally. Rwanda and Tanzania are still in the last two places in the points table. They have a Net Run Rate of -4.580 and -2.405 respectively, with no wins to show.
Namibia dominates against Tanzania as Jonathan Smit's heroics seal victory
As far as the match is concerned, Tanzania won the toss against Namibia and elected to bowl. It was the first T20I game between the two African nations. Namibia lost their first wicket for just 37 runs on the first delivery of the fourth over. Michael van Lingen and Gerhard Erasmus had a partnership of 40 runs for the second wicket before Erasmus was dismissed for 21 runs off 19 deliveries.
Namibia lost another wicket in the 13th over when Lingen was dismissed for 30 runs off 33 deliveries. Jonathan Smit came to the middle after Lingen’s dismissal and played a blistering knock of 40 runs off 25 deliveries, including four sixes and a four.
Smit’s knock helped Namibia reach a total of 157 runs for the loss of six wickets at the end of the 20th over mark. Yalinde Nkanya and Akhil Anil were successful with the ball for Tanzania and picked two wickets each.
Tanzania had a slow start, as they could reach only 28 runs at the end of the powerplay. They lost the first four wickets for just 50 runs. The batters couldn’t compete against the Namibian bowlers.
Tanzania managed just 99 runs in 20 overs and suffered another loss in the tournament. Smit was declared Player of the Match for his impressive batting performance.